Rumi's Birthday (September 30)

Mevlana, dear friend,
I would give you birthday greetings
but you have not been born until now, and your death already sparkles in these Autumn raindrops. Were you ever not here? We met on an endless journey Into stillness. Every atom of my body, an oasis, every atom of yours, a well. When we gazed at each other we could not speak, for our mouths were filled with the same sky. And even now we have hearts that break with one sound, the scratch of brittle leaves against the prison windows, the way their terrible iron bars imperceptibly ring with sweet songs of exile and bondage... O but if we did not grow old in these bodies, what beauty could seep through our cracked and jagged bones? This flute makes music because it has been torn from a living branch with seven wounds left open to bleed poems. I will say it anyway, Jalaladin, so that we can play this tragic comedy of twoness: you, me - past, future - two eyes - two lips - two hands - two natures, human and divine - two nostrils, one breath - two wings, one famished rib cage... I wish you Happy Birthday, old boy!

Books: 'Savor Eternity...'

'Wounded Bud'

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About Me

Poems are maps for getting lost in the wilderness of your heart, where everyone can find you. They remind us we've come to rescue each other from the illusion that we could ever be alone. I hope my poems draw listeners home to the breath of the Beloved. ~AKL